Customer Reviews

Duende: Poems

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tracy K. Smith invents a world of dark images and emotions, fed not by inspiration, but by its alternate manifestation, duende. The concept, developed by Frederico Garcia Lorca, is a passionate, ancient and innovative source of creativity that appears in the face of struggle and death. It is a raw, sincere force that comes from the depth of the heart, the most tortured corner of the artist's life. Smith's collection of brooding poems has the characteristics of a sophomore effort--with fitting irony, her quest for something beyond herself is frustrated by her unwillingness to examine her own identity. She explores duende by taking her audience to all sides of the world--Uganda, Brazil--and leaves them stranded in misunderstandings. Though some of her poems are rooted in the United States, they contain only abstract images of herself, and her message is still unclear. However, her formula is successful in several poems, particularly the longer ones such as History and The Nobodies.

Smith's work hops from image to image, heavily relying on nature, creating impersonal, disjointed, and dark poems. In the poem Diego, she begins, "Winter is a boa constrictor/Contemplating a goat. Nothing moves,/Save for the river, making its way/Steadily into ice. A state of consternation." Her strong beginnings fade and fail to make connections with the tangible, or in some cases, with itself. Still, several of her poems do speak clearly. In Poem in Which Nobody Says "I Told You So," she describes the duende that lurks in love: "Lust is real. Love/is the momentary lapse of treason."

Duende is a B+ effort, with a lot of potential. If Smith can tighten her images and learn to bring her readers back home after the long journey, she will be a powerful voice on many political and social issues.

I read this book when it was first published. I shared her other book with one of my students who is a young writer and who admires Tracy K. Smith's work.

I enjoyed this book. Smith's use of imagery was powerful. Also, the variety in the formatting of each poem made it more interesting and captured my attention immediately. She found an effective way to mix historical and political issues with ideas with emotions the ordinary person experiences. Part four of the first poem, History, was especially inspiring. This, I feel, set the tone for the rest of the book. Not only did I enjoy the poetry, but I learned a lot as well.

How does she do it? I'm in awe of Tracy K. Smith's intellect and heart. Her ability to weave the questions of our time, the beginning of history, and a personal lyric together in gorgeous language is no small task. This is a book I'll be re-reading for a long time. Her poems make me want to expand my own world, to travel again to Spain, and work harder to capture life's earthy low notes. This is a poet we are sure to hear more from and I, for one, can't wait.

Although the word Duende, from my research, alludes to something mystical and fantasy-like, the images that Tracy K. Smith uses in her collection of poems with the same title are very real. Duende, published in May of this year, is full of stories about what is felt physically and mentally. Smith is able to convey a deep connection with her senses to the reader. SUch being the case, in all of the pieces, I was able to feel, see, smell, and touch the elements of her poem. In the piece entitled, "I Don't Miss It", Smith writes about the absence of a lover and what she feels in each moment. In most of her pieces, she employs visuals from the natural world. For example, "Sun perhaps,/Or more lilely colorless light," helps the reader to see the brilliance she speaks of. Smith uses a style of writing that I credit women poets with. Her femininity and awareness of her body is communicated throughout the book. I recommend this book of poetry to anyone who is seeking to go where the poet is in their journey of poetry.

I enjoyed reading Tracy K. Smith's "Duende". While reading the book I experienced a number of different emotions, those being angry, sad, frustrated, confused, intrigued and enlightened. "Duende" possessed a deeper and darker tone. You experience this "tone" through not only the poem's content itself, but the bold titles as well. A specific title that immediately captured my attention was " I Killed You Because You Didn't Go to School and Had No Future". Upon reading this particular title, I was immediately disturbed. However, it instantly caught my attention and made me want to see exactly where the poem was going to go. Following that poem was "Into the Moonless Night". As expressed earlier, at points I felt sad, frustrated, angry and confused. This poem, about young women in Uganda who are kidnapped and forced to wife men, caused me to feel all of those emotions. I found it interesting that Smith set this particular poem up in the form of a dialogue between different people involved in this horrific experience.

Finally, the language that Tracy K. Smith used in "Duende" caused me to stop and think. I found myself reading different parts of poems, at times entire poems, over and over again until I reached my "ah-ha!" moment. While this book possessed a darker tone, "Duende" spoke about real issues in a very interesting way.

There is some real poetry here, and real poetry is beautiful, startling and of great value to the intelligent mind/heart trying to navigate through the madness in this world. I hope Tracy, whom I have never met, keeps reaching deep inside of her self -- and deep into the sky, dragging back whatever might be out there of value close to us as one might a kite ... and feed us the way soul-gut art can. May many come to read your fine, fine work.

Daniel Ladinsky

Best-selling Penguin author